In 1936, Baird Television Ltd. installed its 240-line television system at Alexandra Palace in competition with Marconi-EMI’s 405-line all-electronic standard. The traditional story is that Baird’s cumbersome apparatus was inherently flawed, leading to its swift cancellation in early 1937.

Drawing on recent archival research, Iain Logie Baird challenges this conventional view of “electronic triumph versus mechanical failure”. Exploring television industry dynamics, political manoeuvring and overlooked technical milestones within the Baird camp, he reveals a more complex story behind this pivotal moment in television broadcasting history. Far from a simple engineering defeat, the BBC’s final decision was shaped by a combination of technical, corporate and political forces.

Iain Logie Baird has worked in museum curation and television history for 30 years, specialising in vintage broadcasting and reception technologies. A former Curator of Television at the National Media Museum in Bradford, where he managed historic objects including the National Television and BBC Heritage collections, he has contributed to academic research and exhibitions in the UK and internationally. A grandson of John Logie Baird, he co-manages the official Baird Television website and regularly serves as an expert commentator on early television history.